Back in August, I started on a small pond, but the details took much longer than I had anticipated. This is what it originally looked like. I had the pump cord going through the bathroom window.
Finished Pond
Over Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law installed an outdoor socket, and he helped me reset the pond. Then we landscaped around it.
In October, I had gotten goldfish. Here's a shot of them.
Here's what it looks like from the porch.
Here's another angle.
Thank you, everyone, for the advice you gave me over the summer. I am still working on plants and finishing details, but this pond is a great spot to relax.
It's charming! You will have such fun playing and planting.
fireant13 Very nice! Very very nice! But I wish you would keep your zone 9a ability to work outdoors to your self. I am so jealous. It was 3 degrees this morning here at dawn. Ugh.
Thank you for the compliments. I can't imagine 3 degrees. I grew up in PA, but I haven't had to live in that kind of cold for a long time. We have a cold front coming through now, but it's still not anywhere near freezing.
I have a cat, but I don't think he's been successful in getting to the fish. I think the fountain spray discourages him, but I know he has tried to go fishing. So far I haven't seen any other predators. There are birds, snakes, and racoons in the area, but I haven't seen snakes or racoons in my yard. Before I put the fence up, I did see a fox running with a chicken in his mouth one morning.
Fireant, Congratulations on the completion of your pond! You'll love it in the evenings when you just get to sit there with a lawnchair and relax...they can be as mesmerizing as a fireplace. Be forewarned, you'll be hooked soon, and feel the need to make another one, or a waterfall, or a stream, or add another fish, or build a fake bridge, or....
:)
MerryMary
Thanks, MerryMary. I am new at gardening, so it is encouraging to have this project completed. All the plants are from DG people, except the crape myrtle and pygmy date palm.
Did you move from Ocoee to Clermont? You are right down the road from me.
Nancy
No, lol, my mother is in Clermont, and when I signed her up yesterday to DG, for some reason it combined our 2 accounts for while, so mine said Clermont. When spring rolls around, and my plants get up and running, I'll see what I have that can maybe fit around your pond to make it look tropical.
Being so close, it will be easy to get them to you!
:)
Mary
Thank you. Is your mom ChiaLea? I would like to see your gardens and ponds.
Yes, my mom is ChiaLea, she's the one in Clermont....I'll post a pic of my pond, and potential pond B, if it ever stops raining! They are currently looking VERY wintery, the plants are going dormant. I miss my lush tropical summer pond! I guess that's why God invented snow, to hide just how punky things can look once the weather turns nasty and cold (not that I'm wishing for any!)
MerryMary
Ok Fireant...I went out in the rain and took these for you,lol....
My decks are different heights, so the current pond is the same level as the higher decks.
It's hard to tell with this dark rainy pic (and the time of the year) but in each corner if violet stemmed elephant ears, and water iris. In the center around the fountain are purple ruffle elephant ear (colocasia)
They are starting to go slightly dormant, the water has become quite cold.
The pond is 2 cement blocks deep on the sides, and slightly deeper in the middle. Then lined with pond liner, with cement capper blocks on top.
Fountain is solar.
And now from the other side...this is pond B in the works. It also is 2 cement blocks deep (don't pay any attention to the 2 blocks sitting on the top on the left) The blocks are under ground, I just need to shovel the dirt out of the middle now, to make the pit, and put the liner in. This pond will be lower than pond A, and level with the lower decks. So the 2 ponds will be at different levels, although the same size as each other (about 8x10), and matching the deck level they sit next to. I'll finish it after Christmas. Dig, line, put the capper blocks on, and move a few fish over.
It looks great, Mary. I didn't want to try the liner, so I got a pond form that is soft. Now I wish I had gotten a larger one. Until Spring, I'm keeping just the fish in it. I have sensitive vine and a red colored plant in a bucket. Those plants came from DG people. (I also have black magic elephant ears from a DGer, but I put the EEs in the ground. So far they are doing okay.) I want to get a water lily for spring. Your pond looks relaxing and peaceful. Too bad it's been raining 24 hours straight now--can't really relax by the pond today.
You can always add another pond and link them with a fountain or pond spitter...more water, less mowing! And it makes such a nice relaxing area, especially here in the south, where we go out more in the evenings during the summer, than mid-day. I've been using as much solar lighting, fountains, etc as possible, to avoid running power out there....I have 2 fire pits, my smaller original one I put solar ball lights in, and in the evening they start to glow, so no fire, no smoke, no ashes to clean up! I found red and yellow ones at BigLots, so stacked them up in the pit.
I didn't think of linking ponds. I do want less lawn, especially this past summer when I had to break mowing into sections and mow one at a time. The heat was too instense to mow it all at once. What I am trying to do in the backyard is develop different garden beds around a center plot of lawn. Right now, my yard is a blank slate, except for the pond. I just started working on the spot on the other side of the porch. Your idea with the fire pit is smart. My sister and her husband got me the two solar lights. Since the yard is pitch black unless there's a full moon, they do glow enough to show where the pond is.
fireant, Your pond looks great! Just start making plans for the next one, or larger one, you are hooked now! LOL! You have a wonderful sunroom to veiw it from too.
Sheila
Thank you, Sheila. Actually, that's a screened porch, but it is a great viewing spot. You're right about being hooked.